Hanging Kitchen Towel Easy Tutorial

Check out this Hanging Kitchen Towel Easy Tutorial and make a few in one afternoon. Jazz up your kitchen decor or gift them to family and friends!

I love kitchen towels made with flour sacks – they are very absorbent, easy to clean, and very durable. Some of the ones I use have been in my kitchen for decades! I have a bunch of these sacks just waiting to be made into cute towels and yesterday I spent a couple of hours making this one. Do you like it or do you love it?

I took some photos as I went along so I could write this tutorial for you. Trust me, once one is ready you will want to make a dozen… They make great housewarming gifts, bridal shower items, or Christmas gifts.

Here is my Hanging Kitchen Towel Easy Tutorial:

Materials:

(1) 14″ x 20″ rectangle of flour sack (fabric A)

(2) 6-1/2″ x 9-1/2 rectangles of topper fabric (B)

4″ piece of Velcro

Decorative Button

Plastic for template [You will download my template]

Trim (ribbon, ric-rac, strip of fabric, etc)

Hem the bottom of each of the 6-1/2″ x 9-1/2″ fabric B rectangles by turning one of the short edges in 1/4″ twice and topstitching. With right sides together, pin them. Download the shape for the topper by clicking here. Place it against a light source and trace it onto the plastic for the template. Cut on the outline. Align the bottom of the template with the hemmed edge of the topper rectangles you just pinned, trace on the outline, and stitch 1/4″ inside the outline, on the three sides (left, right, top).

Snip the top curves and the corners so they will be flat later. Turn it inside out and press it.

If using a trim, stitch it near the bottom long edge of the fabric A rectangle. In my case, the bottom had a finish to it, so I hemmed the two sides only (not the top). Hem (as you did the topper) the bottom and the sides.

White kitchen towels are so appealing to me. I found these white Zeppoli Classic Kitchen Towels at such a good price that I am thinking of getting and turning them into hanging kitchen towels with seasonal trims to gift at Christmas.

Make two pleats by turning under the sides – the center will measure 5-1/2″. I did not need to pin the pleats but you can press them.

Insert fabric A (about 3/8″ of it) inside the topper and pin (this is why you do not need to hem the top of the fabric A rectangle). Make sure the front and back of the topper line up so when you topstitch it the stitching lines will show as one (I forgot this step and the back shows two parallel lines – no big deal).

Cut the Velcro piece into two 2″ strips. Align one with the bottom of the topper and stitch it (notice the red oval on the photo on the right: I accidentally moved the Velcro higher…). Stitch them with thread that matches the topper fabric so the Velcro shape won’t show when you fold the topper over. I used white for the purpose of this tutorial. In the end, you really can’t see it.

Fold the topper over and secure the button close to the pointed edge. You know I could have made a buttonhole, except I did not want to spend hours looking for the presser foot, refreshing my memory as to how to use it, etc. Plus, Velcro was handy!

OMG – I am in love! Of course, you can use quilting fabric, hand towels you already have hemmed, or terry cloth. Choose a favorite print (novelty fabrics would be fun with a solid topper) or a solid color that will coordinate or contrast with your kitchen colors.

I have a lot of that ribbon with fruits and I immediately thought of using it. I remember I made an apron with an old jeans shirt and used the same ribbon on it. My mom loves this apron and, even though the collar has totally frayed, she won’t give it up. Since I have oodles of that ribbon, I will use it on all my hanging towels and will vary the topper fabric. This project is a stash buster! For more sewing projects for the kitchen, check out the book Sewing Beyond the Basics.

Have a great Mother’s Day weekend!